Category: recipe

Happy birthday to me! So, I am officially 34 years old! Holy balls. Time fucking flies, man. All you youngin’s out there, take heed. The years begin to move by so quickly you won’t have time to even comprehend it. Yes- another year has passed, and what a year it was! As the song says… “Another year (day) older and deeper in debt…”

Wefaced illness and overcame it. We got married, and we bought a house. Here’s Lola (one of my favorite birthday gifts ever) at home, in her natural habitat: the kitchen.

(Painting by the lovely and talented Mrs. Christine Comis-Villareal)

Lots of things can happen in one year, clearly. Lots of good, maybe some bad. But it all balances out in the end. I decided to skip the “Life List” this year, because honestly? After all the bullshit this year I’m just glad to be here- literally and figuratively. I’m thankful for so many things & people, thankful that I’m healthy and here to celebrate another birthday.

Just when you think you’ve made almost every kind of jam there is, you find a new one. Or at least, thats my story anyway. I present to you today, “Bachelor’s jam”; one of the oldest kinds of fruit preservation there is. Yep. You read that correctly. One of the oldest. And might I add- the easiest.

In Germany, it’s known as rumtopf (rum pot). Perhaps you’ve heard of that. Let’s see what Wikipedia says:

Rumtopf (Danish: Romkrukke), which literally means rum pot, is a German and Danish dessert, traditionally eaten around Christmas.[1] Once a popular traditional dessert, Rumtopf has become rather unfashionable in recent years.[2]

A mixture of various kinds of fruit, high-strength rum, often Stroh’s, and sugar is filled into a large stoneware pot (the eponymous rum pot) and matured for several months until the fruit is very soft and completely saturated with rum. Suitable fruit includes berries, cherries, plums and apricots. Not all fruits are appropriate for Rumtopf, and the overproof rum should be of only 100-110 proof (50-55% alcohol by volume), which is not commonly available at retail in all regions, but can be prepared by blending more common commercially available 151 proof and 80 proof rums.[3][4][5]

Traditionally, the pot is set up in a cool and dark place in Spring, and different kinds of ripe fruit are added to it over the months as they come in season. The fruit is thereby preserved to be eaten in Winter, when the Rumtopf is matured.

In France? It’s known as confiture de vieux garçon, or bachelor’s jam. And sometimes it’s even called “officer’s jam” (which is even better & more appropriate for us!). I happen to think that’s a far more intriguing name, so that’s what I’m going with.

In order to make this, there is little to no effort on your part. Seriously. If you can chop fruit, and you have both alcohol and sugar in your possession, then you can make this. No canning required. You don’t even need to add herbs or spices or fancy stuff; it’s fine on it’s own. And best part? NO COOKING. At ALL. Not even turning on a burner on the stove!

I told you. I have had a lot of cherries. I received an amazingly large shipment of beautiful Northwest cherries from Rainier Fruit Co, and while I used most of them for canning and preserving, there were a decent amount that got too soft or weren’t right for that purpose. And that’s okay- it happens! They were excellent for eating fresh right out of the bag. But I needed to bake.

You know how that is. When you just have to bake something, even if it is 90º?

Well, yeah. That happens to me, anyway. So I decided to bake up some mini cherry pies… with a twist: I added some Pimm’s No. 1 Cup to them.

I know, random. I got tired of all the fruity stuff going on around here, guys. I needed to bake something that wasn’t a fruit tart. I’m serious. I love making jams and baking pies and tarts, but I’m really just biding my time waiting for #pickleseason and looking for opportunities to make cupcakes.

Or cakes.

So when my dad informed me he wasn’t going to pick a dessert for Father’s Day, he was going to leave it up to me, I immediately thought: cake. Then Jay came up with this genius idea. GENIUS. Totally genius. Except of course we were not the first ones to think of such a thing.

I found an excellent recipe and adapted it just a liiiiiittle teeny bit to suit me. And it was amazing. AMAZING. I even busted out my large Wilton bundt pan for this!

Ahhh, Independence Day. A day where Americans can reflect on what our forefathers went through to create this nation, and to remember how far we’ve come. But mostly just shoot off fireworks and get hammered. Totes legit. Go ‘Murica.

I had this tea series my dad got me for Christmas, the Boston Tea Company‘s Boston Harbour Series. And seeing that and putting that together with Independence Day, plus all these cherries I have… it gave me an idea. Why not go back to my old standby for making preserves: infusing them with tea!?

The Boston Tea Party was pivotal in the formation of the United States, after all. It should get some credit!

This is a recipe I’ve made quite a few times, except I’ve never changed it up before. It’s actually a favorite of mine, especially in the summer. Lemon is super refreshing and summery tasting, and this is a pretty simple recipe to throw together quickly before a party/barbecue.

I found myself with a pint of blueberries & I thought, I should really use them for something before they go bad. I actually had no idea what that something would be until the very morning of a family get-together I was having. About 6 hours before our families were due to arrive, I just decided, hey! Lemon + blueberry. That works! And I pulled out this ol’ recipe.

It’s actually a Starbucks lemon loaf knockoff recipe I found ages ago on the internet. I’ve since made it so many times however it’s been maybe 6 years since I’ve had the Starbucks version. So long that I can’t really honestly remember if this one does indeed taste like the Starbucks one; but I said it did once so I believe it.

The best thing abut recipes like this- and I say this all the time- is that its totally customizable. Once you make it, you begin to think of what else you can do with it. This particular lemon-y flavor lends itself beautifully to fresh berries.

Remember that Revlon lipstick, Cherries in the Snow? I believe they still make it. I remember as a kid my mom wore it, and I loved the name. What a great name for a lipstick. It was one of their best sellers for many, many years by the time I came along. Anyway… I always think of that lipstick when I see cherries, so it was more than a great name, it was great marketing!

This post isn’t really about Revlon or makeup or anything related to it at all, actually. It is, however, about cherries. Sweet, perfect cherries from the Rainier Fruit Company. And of course, part 1 (part 1… yes, there will be more) of what I did with them!